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What's a Polysomnographic Technologists Bill?
I'm hearing that there's a Polysomnographic Technologists Bill being sponsored in New York. Told that if it doesn't pass many techs will lose their jobs. Why?
Views: 559
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by RockRpsgt on
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I do not think that Cindy is with us anymore Judy. I would like to know how the RT differs between sleep, respiratory, and the DME. Seems to me like Cindy should be getting on the people that are giving RTs a bad name rather than the ones that are affected by them.
I thought this conversation was about sleep anyway. The RTs always find some way to make it about them.
LOL I love ya Rock Conner!
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Permalink Reply by Banyon on
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The bill starts out, right up front, with a big lie:
"PURPOSE: To ensure that persons suffering from sleep disorders are
diagnosed and treated only by competent and qualified polysomnographic
technology professionals who are licensed and registered with the
State Education Department.
"
That is not the purpose of the bill. The purpose of the bill is to protect a class of workers, the people who train them, and the businesses at which they are employed.
The bill also seems to stop the use of home studies and drive the cost of diagnosis even higher than it is now. This will hit the poorest among us the hardest.
In 1960, 5% of professions required licensure. Today it is 30%. This is a racket to keep salaries high, create jobs in schools that do training and create jobs in state governments.
State licensing exams are typically out of date and ineffective. They only test the applicant's ability to pass the test and do not have a good correlation with on the job performance. They do pump up the ego of some licensees but at great cost to the customers.
If you move to a new town and need to find a doctor, what do you do?
Well you know they all have to be licensed so you just confidently go to the one nearest you. Right?
No, that is wrong. You speak to some of your new neigbors and friends and get a reference for a good doctor. You do this because you know licensing in no way means the doctor will do a good job. It is the same for all the professions.
This law should be trashed. But since we have become such soft wimps in the U.S., interested only in security, it will likely pass.
Maybe NY State residents will soon be seeking sleep doctors in bordering states who will prescribe home sleep studies.
This should create more jobs for NY State police doing surveillance, arresting citizens and confiscating those dangerous portable home equipment units as they are smuggled into the state for one-night studies.
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Permalink Reply by Judy on
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If Cindy has left us I'm really sorry about that. Especially since I am one who has probably ragged on RRTs the most. *sigh*
My best friend's son started out volunteering at our local hospital, worked his way into housekeeping, got his RRT certification, moved on into sleep and now manages a sleep lab in Indiana. Whilst he was still in Respiratory at the hospital I can remember him volunteering for and insisting on accompanying one of his patients on an AirFlite to U of M and bagging that patient all the way. He is one of the very caring and always was.
I have taken part in the National Lung Cancer Screening trial at U of M, taken part in one Clinical trial there and one COPD Research trial plus am currently taking part in two other Research trials for COPD at U of M and thus every 3 months for the last .... 4 years or more maybe I've had contact w/several different RRTs w/these trials and I have the utmost respect for them and have an especial liking for the latest RRT. Each of them has said that they know little to nothing about sleep and CPAP therapy and would be terrified to go into the field w/o thorough training in PSG. When I was hospitalized overnight in the CPC an RRT came down for nebulizing treatments and was intrigued by my VPAP Auto and H3i humidifier and commented she was so delighted I'd brought it because their units were so large and cumbersome and she was absolutely fascinated w/the data via the LCD screen on my VPAP.
There are several wonderful RRTs I've encountered in a couple of the apnea support forums. Fortunately, they are the ones w/some fairly thick skin and a good sense of humor because the local DME RRTs just are not particularly well-loved in these forums for reasons which I've stated many times.
Rock Hinkle said:I do not think that Cindy is with us anymore Judy. I would like to know how the RT differs between sleep, respiratory, and the DME. Seems to me like Cindy should be getting on the people that are giving RTs a bad name rather than the ones that are affected by them.
I thought this conversation was about sleep anyway. The RTs always find some way to make it about them.
LOL I love ya Rock Conner!
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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Amen. I'm glad I'm not the only one here who is the slightest bit skeptical of this push to licensure.
Banyon said:The bill starts out, right up front, with a big lie:
"PURPOSE: To ensure that persons suffering from sleep disorders are diagnosed and treated only by competent and qualified polysomnographic
technology professionals who are licensed and registered with the
State Education Department.
"
That is not the purpose of the bill. The purpose of the bill is to protect a class of workers, the people who train them, and the businesses at which they are employed.
The bill also seems to stop the use of home studies and drive the cost of diagnosis even higher than it is now. This will hit the poorest among us the hardest.
In 1960, 5% of professions required licensure. Today it is 30%. This is a racket to keep salaries high, create jobs in schools that do training and create jobs in state governments.
State licensing exams are typically out of date and ineffective. They only test the applicant's ability to pass the test and do not have a good correlation with on the job performance. They do pump up the ego of some licensees but at great cost to the customers.
If you move to a new town and need to find a doctor, what do you do?
Well you know they all have to be licensed so you just confidently go to the one nearest you. Right?
No, that is wrong. You speak to some of your new neigbors and friends and get a reference for a good doctor. You do this because you know licensing in no way means the doctor will do a good job. It is the same for all the professions.
This law should be trashed. But since we have become such soft wimps in the U.S., interested only in security, it will likely pass.
Maybe NY State residents will soon be seeking sleep doctors in bordering states who will prescribe home sleep studies.
This should create more jobs for NY State police doing surveillance, arresting citizens and confiscating those dangerous portable home equipment units as they are smuggled into the state for one-night studies.
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Mike, It is even worse than I thought. There is some truth in the bill. Look what they say in these two paragraphs:
Given the compelling health issues and costs at stake, the diagnosis
and treatment of sleep disorders has become a vital health care issue.
In response to this need, there has been an emergence of independent
sleep centers, sleep labs and hospitals using state-of-the-art
equipment to monitor, test and treat patients suffering from sleep
disorders. These facilities rely upon a team of professionals
including physicians specializing in sleep disorders, nurses,
respiratory therapists, and polysomnographic technologists.
As the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders has developed,
polysomnographic technologists have played an integral and, perhaps,
the most visible function in patient care including administering
sleep tests and working with physicians to provide information needed
for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of such disorders. They
typically are responsible for: gathering and analyzing patient
information and ensuring the appropriate tests are performed;
administering tests which may involve connections of electrodes,
sensors, and air masks; monitoring, scoring and evaluating test
results; and ensuring patient safety. Polysomnographic technologists
are highly trained and often experienced professionals who work under
the supervision of, and in cooperation with, physicians and other
health care providers. Importantly, since the diagnosis of a patient
usually occurs over a one- or two-night period, polysomnographic
technologists are relied upon to work overnight shifts unlike other
health care providers.
They are raving about the great job "an independent emergence of sleep centers, sleep labs and hospitals using state-of-the-art equipment to monitor, test and treat patients suffering from sleep disorders .... rely upon a team of professionals including .... polysomnographic technologists .... polysomnographic technologists have played an integral .... function in patient care .... provide information needed for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of such disorders .... ensuring the appropriate tests are performed .... etc., etc., "
So the government thinks these Unlicensed (horrors, horrors) workers are doing a great job. This was all built up without licenses!
So what should government do? Create a license requirement, a government bureaucracy, and change the workers focus from effective treatment of their patients to obtaining and maintaining a license? In other works f@#$% the system up for patients, drive the cost up, and make it less accessible to patients.?
A crying shame.
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Mike, You posted this, "Told that if it doesn't pass many techs will lose their jobs. Why? "
Remember from your history lessons the Luddites? "members of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment."
Today, the word Luddite is often used to describe people who oppose technological change.
So part of the driving force in today's issue is those who fear losing their jobs at sleep labs as the use of portable home sleep testing equipment becomes more common.
Will PSTs come into our homes and bust up the equipment? :):):)
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to that point, i just learned that a group called the "Coalition for Effective Sleep Medicine" has formed to lobby for: "appropriate physician evaluation before ordering any diagnostic sleep test, performance of sleep tests consistent with existing accreditation standards, delivery and active follow-up of positive air pressure devices consistent with the patient’s overall long-term OSA disease care plan, and development of outcome measures to drive best practices for these integrated care methodologies.”
So the goal of this organization is to kill fast, easy, cheap, accessible home testing. In other words, the kind of home testing that the free market would provide were it not for these special interest groups stepping in and getting in the way. To put it in concrete terms, this agenda means your Average Undiagnosed Joe or Jane will never be able to go into Target or Walgreens, buy a home screening test put out by a consumer manufacturer, and figure out whether it makes sense to talk to a doctor about a more sophisticated overnight test in a lab. Rather, Average Undiagnosed Joe or Jane will be in the same boat they're in now -- unaware that they're even at risk because they're relying on their Primary Care Physician to detect that kind of stuff in a physical. Problem is, Primary Care Physician has no clue himself/ herself about OSA. So Average Undiagnosed Joe or Jane suffers needlessly from untreated Sleep Apnea for years, and dies an untimely death. Good for the narrow minded folks in Sleep industry who are scared of home testing eating their lunch. Bad for everyone else. And the crazy thing is that if they let the free market model prevail, they'd wind up making more money anyway because there'd be so much more supply of patients wanting an overnight test. But instead they're going the road of the recording industry and the newspapers -- fighting technology that threatens their pieces of the pie, even though a lot of people want iTunes, not shrink wrapped CDs and news from a variety of online sources, not ink stained newspapers. If these companies protecting their turf would adapt and embrace the new technology instead of resist it, they'd stand to gain more morally and financially. Rant over.
Banyon said:Mike, You posted this, "Told that if it doesn't pass many techs will lose their jobs. Why? "
Remember from your history lessons the Luddites? "members of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment."
Today, the word Luddite is often used to describe people who oppose technological change.
So part of the driving force in today's issue is those who fear losing their jobs at sleep labs as the use of portable home sleep testing equipment becomes more common.
Will PSTs come into our homes and bust up the equipment? :):):)
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Permalink Reply by 99 on
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its divied and concor
putting the cat among the pidgeons
that is what politics is all about
smoke screan and mirrors
pitting one against another
i see this is what is developing here
and the politians are rubbing their hands
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re this thread, Banyon posted this on my wall: Mike, You said, "If these companies protecting their turf would adapt and embrace the new technology instead of resist it, they'd stand to gain more morally and financially." That is an excellent and fundamental point. Would you want to work for a company that is resisting new technology and advances in communications, marketing and distribution? Pity their employees.
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You guys seem to no more about this than I do so I am done with this one. Cindy was right though. No one is pushing home studies out. That is not a possibility at this point as they are here to stay. I support better education for sleep techs and the public. Therefore I support state licensure. Sleep as an industry is fighting the system to be able to perform better. Evidently we are also fighting the public as well. That does put sleep in a ver defensive position. Your arguements are very one sided gentlemen. If forums like this do not support sleep then no one will. Armchair quarterbacking will not change a damn thing. Licensure will help to regulate sleep and take it back from the scam artist. If something does not change soon then sleep will continue to de-regulate. That's ok because obviously the 2 of you believe that you could do a better job than those of us that were trained to do the job. I will speak no more on this.
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I think you would do a much better job than either of us at this, Rock. And if the license is required, then I think you should certainly get it. I didn't mean to belittle your skills or abilities. On the contrary, I wanted the good guys like you to rise to the top without a government bureaucracy slowing down your glide path to a rewarding and successful career. I understand your point of view, and respect it.
Rock Hinkle said:You guys seem to no more about this than I do so I am done with this one. Cindy was right though. No one is pushing home studies out. That is not a possibility at this point as they are here to stay. I support better education for sleep techs and the public. Therefore I support state licensure. Sleep as an industry is fighting the system to be able to perform better. Evidently we are also fighting the public as well. That does put sleep in a ver defensive position. Your arguements are very one sided gentlemen. If forums like this do not support sleep then no one will. Armchair quarterbacking will not change a damn thing. Licensure will help to regulate sleep and take it back from the scam artist. If something does not change soon then sleep will continue to de-regulate. That's ok because obviously the 2 of you believe that you could do a better job than those of us that were trained to do the job. I will speak no more on this.
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My respect for you and banyon is yet unwavered. This is not about holding me back. At this point in my career that is not a possibility. This is about sleep as an industry having it's own foundation to stand on. Right now everyone has their hands in it. This is the problem with sleep from my view. Do I want to protect my job? Damn straight, as should the rest of you. I am proud of what I do. I personally do not want sleep education to come from a 16 year old Walmart attendent. Do you? This is not an administrative bill. It's only purpose is to protect sleep, and those that practice it. This includes all of you.
Banyon, Do you really think that it is the goal of the RPSGT to drive up price? Do you honestly believe that $50-60,000 a year is to high a salary for saving lives. I find that hard to believe in a society that will pay $500 to see a grown man or woman get 20 mil to play a childs game. No, that is the job of an administrator, or a lawyer. This bill was proposed and financed by RPSGTs. Not doctors, and certainly not administrators. This is the RPSGT taking a stand and telling other medical practices, and scam artist that you can't have what is not rightfully yours. Sleep foundation was laid by people like Dement, McGregor, and D.W. Conn. These are the types of people that should control the decision making process of sleep. I will continue to do whatever I can to follow in those footprints. Who knows maybe one day I will be the decision maker.
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